Mid-late Holocene vegetation history of the Argive Plain (Peloponnese, Greece) as inferred from a pollen record from ancient Lake Lerna.

This study provides a high-resolution reconstruction of the vegetation of the Argive Plain (Peloponnese, Greece) covering 5000 years from the Early Bronze Age onwards. The well dated pollen record from ancient Lake Lerna has been interpreted in the light of archaeological and historical sources, climatic data from the same core and other regional proxies. Our results demonstrate a significant degree of human impact on the environments of the Argive Plain throughout the study period.

Palaeoecological data indicates land-use changes across Europe linked to spatial heterogeneity in mortality during the Black Death pandemic.

The Black Death (1347-1352 CE) is the most renowned pandemic in human history, believed by many to have killed half of Europe's population. However, despite advances in ancient DNA research that conclusively identified the pandemic's causative agent (bacterium Yersinia pestis), our knowledge of the Black Death remains limited, based primarily on qualitative remarks in medieval written sources available for some areas of Western Europe. Here, we remedy this situation by applying a pioneering new approach, 'big data palaeoecology', which, starting from palynological data, evaluates the scale of the Black Death's mortality on a regional scale across Europe.

δ C values in archaeological C-AMS dated charcoals: assessing mid-Holocene climate fluctuations and human response from a high-resolution isotope record (Arslantepe, Turkey).

Rationale: Past climate has always influenced human adaptation to the environment. In order to reconstruct palaeoclimate fluctuations and their role in the evolution of Near Eastern societies during the mid-Holocene, high-resolution Δ C records from fossil wood remains at the archaeological site of Arslantepe (eastern Turkey) have been developed.

Methods: After chemical treatment, δ C values were measured by sample combustion flow using a FLASH EA-CHNS instrument interfaced with a Delta V isotope ratio mass spectrometer via a CONFLO III.

Age-associated cardiac dysfunction in Drosophila melanogaster.

The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, has served as a valuable model/organism for the study of aging and was the first organism possessing a circulatory system to have its genome completely sequenced. However, little is known about the function of the heartlike organ of flies during the aging process. We have developed methods for studying cardiac function in vivo in adult flies.

Bioactive peptides and serotonin immunocytochemistry in the cerebral ganglia of hibernating Helix aspersa.

The role of some neuromodulators and neurotransmitters in the functioning of molluskan cerebral neurons and in their metabolic changes during hibernation has been considered. The cerebral ganglion of mollusks is a center for the integration of different inputs from the sensory areas of the head and for the generation of motor command impulses. During hibernation, animals are deprived of many external sensory stimuli and do not have locomotion and feeding.

The cerebral neurons of Helix aspersa during hibernation. Changes in the cytochemical detection of calmodulin, cytoskeletal components and phosphatases.

Some markers of the intracellular systems that regulate neuronal activity and morphology were analyzed in the cerebral ganglion of hibernating snails (Helix aspersa), in comparison with active animals. The immunocytochemical expression of a calcium-binding protein, i.e.

Neuroprotective effects of alpha-dihydroergocryptine against damages in the substantia nigra caused by severe treatment with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine.

The effects on the substantia nigra of alpha-dihydroergocryptine (DEK), a drug with strong dopaminomimetic activity, were tested with a severe 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) treatment in monkeys. Compared with monkeys treated with MPTP alone, the animals which received DEK plus MPTP showed reduced neuronal death in the substantia nigra. The reactive astrocytes were increased in number.

Cis-dichlorodiammineplatinum alters GABAergic structures in the immature rat cerebellum.

It has been reported that injection of the antitumoral drug cis-dichlorodiammineplatinum at 10 days of life affects cerebellar development in rats. After a single dose of 5 micrograms/g of body weight, the formation of granule cells is decreased and the maturation of postmitotic neurons is slowed down. A substantial time after treatment, reduced cell packing density of the internal granule layer and atrophy of the molecular layer can be observed.

Experimental approaches to the study of degenerative and regenerative processes in the nervous tissue. I). Morphological changes in the frog cerebellum after unilateral transection of the VIII statoacustic nerve.

The cell density was evaluated in Purkinje neuron and internal granule cell layers of the frog (Rana esculenta L.) cerebellum at 3, 8, 14, or 30 days after unilateral transection of the VIII statoacustic nerve. After 3 days, the cell density of the Purkinje cell layer was markedly reduced, the cellular loss amounting to 30% at 30 days.